The Texas Real Estate Commission met on February 12 with a full crowd of Texas Realtors in attendance. This was the first opportunity in 2024 for license holders to earn up to four hours of CE credit during a Commission meeting. It was also an opportunity for those in attendance and watching the livestream to learn about the various functions of the agency, hear public comments, witness the form adoption process, and more. Read on for more highlights from the event.

Executive Committee Elected

The Commission elected broker Mark Woodruff to serve as vice chair and public member Ben Peña as secretary. These two positions, along with Chair R. Scott Kesner, compose the Commission’s Executive Committee.

Committee Volunteers Recognized

Executive Director Chelsea Buchholtz and Chair Kesner recognized volunteers who have served on the Commission’s advisory committees and ad hoc advisory groups over the years. Those recognized include:

• Rick Albers, Education Standards Advisory Committee (ESAC)
• Candy Cooke (ESAC)
• Charles Porter (ESAC)
• Bob Baker, Broker Responsibility Working Group* (BRWG)
• Socar Chatmon-Thomas (BRWG)
• Yazmin Perez (BRWG)
• Brian Sales (BRWG)
• Ty Williams (BRWG)

*The BRWG is no longer in existence and is replaced by the Broker Responsibility Advisory Committee (BRAC).

Public Comments on CE, Principles I and II Courses

There were a few individuals who provided public comment during the meeting related to the CE requirements after going inactive and requiring Principles I and II as prerequisite courses before taking other classes.

CE credits are counted going back two years from the date you apply to go active—for both sales agents and brokers. It doesn’t matter if you go inactive for an hour, a day, a week, or more, and even a recent renewal will not factor into whether you are required to take additional education hours to return to active status. Read more about why TREC must use this calculation and how you can change your sponsoring broker without going inactive.

Commissioners considered the recommendation from the Education Standards Advisory Committee (ESAC) that Principles I and II be required as a prerequisite to all other pre-licensing courses during the TREC Workshop held after the TREC Meeting. The Commissioners declined to move forward with it, pointing out a few issues, including that it could lead to people spending more time and money toward getting their license if they have taken certain courses already in the past.

Voluntary MUD Form Adopted

Under Texas law, if a seller’s property is located in a water district, like a municipal utility district (MUD), the seller must provide a notice that includes certain specific information to the buyer prior to execution of the contract. The language of the notice is provided—word for word—by statute.

Water districts are required to make the information in this form available to the public (for example, many are required to post the information on the district’s website). However, if the district has not made the notice available, a seller could obtain the information from the district and then could use that information to complete the form.

Do license holders fill out this form? No.

This form is confusing. Why didn’t TREC change it? The statute provides the disclosure language that is required for use verbatim. The Texas Broker-Lawyer Committee could not change the statutorily required language, but it did add an introductory clarifying paragraph to the form.

When is the form available to use? It is currently available and ready to use.

Meeting Materials and Upcoming Meeting Details

The above is a summary of highlights from TREC’s February 2024 meeting.

• View the video recording.
• Download the meeting materials.

Commissioners meet again Monday, May 20 at 10 a.m. in Dallas. This breakaway from Austin headquarters is to continue the Commission’s goal of reaching more Texans in person. TREC hit the road for the first time last year to visit Houston—more than 80 people attended that meeting.